Experts teach airmen to run bare foot and injury-free

By Staff Sgt. Kevin Chandler

Published 12:01 am, Thursday, June 23, 2011

Dr. Mark Cucuzzella, medical consultant for the Air Force Marathon, and Ian Adamson, ultra-athlete and three-time record holder, shared information on proper techniques and methods for injury-free running during two, three-hour running clinics June 12 at the March Air Reserve Base in California.

Dr. Cucuzzella, an associate professor of family medicine at West Virginia University and an Air Force Reserve flight surgeon stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, told those in attendance the primary concern for runners is their feet.

Feet are "critical to movement" and can be a source of injuries for many runners, he said. In fact, it was a toe injury that led the doctor, who won the 2006 Air Force Marathon, to reevaluate his running form.

After examining the running technique of successful Kenyan marathoners, the doctor realized his training regimen needed some modification. He eventually developed a 12-step plan for running, based on the barefoot style of running Kenyans employ and Western children enjoy but eventually abandon as they grow up.

The plan focuses on developing proper form and posture to ensure runners are using the natural engineering of the foot to absorb shock from impact and keep the runner's hips and knees from bearing too much strain and ultimately sustaining injury. Dr. Cucuzzella played a short video on this technique which featured him running barefoot on the highway that cuts through the Antietam battlefield in Sharpsburg, Md.

Adamson is also a proponent of barefoot running. Despite his numerous races and years of training, Adamson said he never experienced a running injury until he transitioned from barefoot running to wearing his sponsor's shoes.

While barefoot running is growing in popularity, a recent article in the New York Times cautioned that barefoot running can lead to new injuries due to the body's inclination to keep striding as if the feet were still in shoes. People used to walking barefoot tend to impact the ground at the mid-foot while those used to wearing shoes strike more with the heel.

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Dr. Cucuzzella acknowledged this fact and cautioned that retraining your feet to adopt a natural stride should be done gradually to avoid harm to foot bones and tissue.

He also advised those runners trying to improve their aerobic conditioning to run slower. This goes against common practice, but science proves the doctor's theory. By maintaining a pace that keeps the runner's heart rate in an aerobic zone, the body taps into fat stores instead of burning glucose, allowing the runner to go longer distances.